Seventh son of a seventh son

In Lancashire and particularly in Blackburn there was, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a tradition of calling seventh sons of seventh sons (and seventh sons) 'Doctor' (forename) because of their supposed abilities as healers.^[3]

The seventh son of a seventh son is gifted as a healer. The seventh son of a seventh son is part of a more general phenomenon known as the "cure" (sometimes also called the "charm").^[4] Belief in the efficacy of seventh son healers and other folklore related to healing persisted to the 20th century in parts of Ireland.^[5]

In Italian legend, "Ciarallo" was a seventh son of a seventh son who had the power to enchant and recall snakes, and who was immune to snake venom. Ciarallo was not only a seventh son, but underwent a special initiation rite called "inciaramazione". Customarily, one would ask Ciarallo's intercession when a snake was discovered in the house. Ciarallo would answer these requests by attracting the snake with a whistle. He would also perform the inciaramazione rite on other people to ensure protection from snakes by spreading a special oil on their arm. Children were led to Ciarallo by their mothers to get protection.^[6]

In some Latin American countries, the seventh son of a seventh son is believed to be cursed to be a werewolf, lobizón, Luison (in Paraguay) or lobisomem (the Portuguese word for "werewolf"). To prevent this, the newborn should be baptized in seven different churches. Alternately, he may be baptized under the name Benito, with his eldest brother (the eldest son of their father) as his godfather. The local myth of the lobizón is not connected to the custom that began over 100 years ago by which every seventh son (or seventh daughter) born in Argentina to "legitimately married parents of good conduct and moral character" is eligible to become godchild to the president.^[7]

Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu describe the Transylvanian folk belief that "the seventh son of a seventh son is doomed to become a vampire."^[8]

According to Edward Augustus Kendall in Travels through the Northern Parts of the United States, in the year 1807–1808, while he visited the Newgate copper mine and prison, he met an innkeeper who told him that "there was to be found in the surrounding hills, a black stone, of a certain species, through which a seventh son of a seventh son, born in the month of February, with a caul on his head, can discern everything that lies in the depths and interior of the globe." The author speculated that the importance of mining to the community gave rise to the localized belief.^[9][10]

• James Murrell was the seventh son of a seventh son, according to investigations by Arthur Morrison.^[11]
• Abram George (1916?–?), Mohawk faith healer from Akwesasne, claimed in contemporary news reports to have been the seventh son of a seventh son.^[12][13][14]
• Archille Noé Baillargeon (1889–?) from Tecumseh, Ontario was the seventh son of a seventh son and was believed to have extraordinary healing powers.^[15]
• Although singer Perry Como claimed to be a seventh son, he had two older sisters and only one older brother who survived to adulthood plus three preceding siblings who died in infancy.^[16]
• Pro football Hall of Famer Len Dawson was the seventh son of a seventh son, born the ninth of 11 children.^[17]
• Ivor Powell, Welsh football player and manager said that "people used to keep pointing it out, but it didn't mean a lot to me"^[18]

• List of occult terms

• Seventh Sons and Their Seventh Sons: A passage from Chambers' Book of Days with information about the belief in the UK, France, and Germany.